Rockets Roster building is a 4 step process and should be done in this order

1) Cool.

2) We don't have $30m in cap space this offeason. It's more like $14. You could still probably get someone like Smith or Millsap at that price, though I wonder if they're worth it.

3a) We'll basically have no money left at this point, so these acquisitions couldn't be done this offseason.

3b) Reaching the salary cap doesn't give you the MLE right away, I don't think. I think you'd have to enter the free agency period at or over the cap to have an MLE. So, we can't get an MLE guy like this.

4) No problem in theory here, but you get to this point with a lot less firepower than you were assuming. You might still be able to package some players to pick up someone on a firesale. But, then you're team would be something like Harden, Smith, Bledsoe, and scrubs. Even so, I'd call that a successful offseason and a good spot to build from. Too bad a lot has to go right to even get that.

 

This is all impossible. It simply doesn't work this way.

 

30/13/8/3 last game.
You're right, someone will max him. If we can make a trade before deadline, we can offer the best contract

 

Aha, nevermind, I should've read first, didn't know that

 

Why? no one was sure about harden being a star either?

 

James Harden was in the league for only 3 years, and a limited role at that, but displayed the talent to become a star.

Josh Smith has been in the NBA for 9 years now and he's been prominently featured for years now.

Case in point...Josh Smith is what he is and realistically won't get much better, if at all. James Harden had plenty of room to improve productivity and it was obvious. Different scenarios.